Texas Basketball: 3 players who must step up in fall practice

3) Texas basketball players who must step up in practice: Will Baker

There could be a real opportunity for the Longhorns to see a player like former elite five-star recruit and sophomore center Will Baker breakthrough in a big way in his second season on the Forty Acres. It took a good while for Texas to see Baker get off and running last season, and head coach Shaka Smart couldn’t really find the right role for him until down the stretch in Big 12 play.

Baker played in 23 games last season (none of which he started in). He only averaged 2.1 points per game, 1.9 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.2 steals, and 0.1 blocks. Baker shot 27.5 percent from the field, 15.4 percent from beyond the arc, and 33.3 percent from the free-throw line. Those are some pretty poor numbers, but the good news is that he has a large margin for which to improve.

A player with as much raw talent and as versatile of offensive skill set as Baker needs to come with a lot of patience from the coaching staff. He did also improve a good bit down the stretch last season, as he was much better in Big 12 play than during the non-conference slate. Baker averaged 3.2 points per game, 2.6 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.2 blocks, while shooting 30.4 percent from the field, 25.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 36.4 percent from the free-throw line, in Big 12 play.

The fact that Baker posted a -7.8 box plus/minus rating, -0.2 total win shares, 1.4 player efficiency rating, and a 32.2 true shooting percentage, means that he should have nowhere to go but up. There’s going to likely be a big learning curve associated with Baker, but he’s good enough talent and potential that the patience really should pay off in the end.